Pipe saddles are not a new invention. Generally, pipe saddles are fastened around a pipe so that one can connect a branch tubing to a main tubing. Attaching a branch tubing to a main tubing often requires numerous steps and sometimes causes difficulty in sealing the junction between the branch tubing and the main tubing. The present invention provides novel and useful improvements to pipe saddles, including a quick two-step branch coupling forming process whereby a user can snap two plastic non-corrodable self-mating members around a resilient pipe to form a pipe saddle clamp with a threaded recess for receiving a coupling cutter. Next by screwing a coupling cutter into the pipe saddle clamp the user not only cuts a circular hole in the resilient pipe but also stores the circular cut-out in the coupling cutter blade to prevent the cut-out from polluting the contents of the main tubing. The cutting of the main tubing with the coupling cutter also forms a leak-proof seal at the junction between the main tubing and the coupling cutter.
The two-step branch attachment is particularly well suited for underground irrigation systems that require in situ forming of branch lines to a main tubing, but it is also useful in other systems and locations that use resilient or flexible tubing. The two-step branch attachment of the present invention, unlike many of its predecessors, does not require flexible sealing rings between the clamp and the main tube. In addition, the present invention does not require glue or other adhesives to secure the clamp to itself or to the main tubing. Also many prior art pipe saddles require that the main tubing remains round in order to form a seal between the branch tubing and the main tubing. In the present invention the two-step branch attachment permits a user to form a leak-proof junction between a coupling and a partially flattened tubing as well as a round tubing.
The present invention contains two different sized female threads in the two-step branch attachment to permit the branch attachment to accommodate two different sizes of branch tubing.